Blade Runner 2049 (Blu-ray SteelBook) (HDzeta Special Edition Silver Label) [China]

[wxlinkswd]

Release date: April 20, 2018
Group Buy: 4K Single Lenti (slip only) - 3D Double Lenti (slip only)
Notes: WWA steelbook, each edition 300 copies

4K+BD single lenti edition | 3D+2D double lenti edition

 

[ethnosax]

Anyone who actually got a copy of each edition had one of them canceled and refunded, with no discussion about which one they preferred to keep. So, even people who were 100% successful with this release end up at least a little upset with HDz. Like, they couldn't just add a few extra copies to make up for the few that were oversold, so people would like them? This release makes no sense to me.

 

[stratmeister]

I never hosted a GB. Not sure all that's involved. I appreciate the people who do host them. I don't know how much discretion the GB hosts have and how much is beyond their control. But it can be a frustrating exercise trying to buy one. And trying to buy direct from the Mfg. websites is no less frustrating. If it's a popular title with low numbers your chances are not good getting one. There are a some resellers that seem to have access to bulk quantities. You can buy from one of them them via eBay for more money. Sometimes a lot more. It can be very disheartening.

 

[ethnosax]

To clarify--I meant nothing against the host of this GB, who is in a tough spot for sure. I'm just thinking that when the GB oversold by not very many copies, good business practice for HDz would've been to allow those.

 

[Sigill]

My 4k copy was one of the extra 7 copies sold. It was refunded as the transaction wasn’t captured in the HDN system. Don’t know if that’s the case or it was oversold. Kind of annoying if you ask me.

The same happened to me with the 3D version. It said there was an error with the payment. It may have been after the first 20 had sold but I did feel like I was pretty quick getting my order in. It is disappointing.

 

[Maksym]

To clarify--I meant nothing against the host of this GB, who is in a tough spot for sure. I'm just thinking that when the GB oversold by not very many copies, good business practice for HDz would've been to allow those.

Good Business Practices also usually have websites that work.
I don't really understand why those print runs have to be so tiny. 500 copies sold out in a minute. Why don't make 1000 and get it sold out in an hour? And everybody are happy and HDzeta made twice more money.
Then, how come i will see people on ebay selling 10 copies after the release? How in a hell did they get those? my only question is why? HDzeta why?
I own almost every edition of BR2049, and now i feel like i will have to pay 200$ or more on ebay for HDzeta. Considering even stupid mondo steels are going for almost 100$.

 

[ethnosax]

I know there were apparently some quality-control problems that reduced the already small initial numbers. But this is a case where I think it would be worthwhile to consider a second printing--or perhaps it would have been better to hold off on the sales until they had the full numbers (though I know that finance-wise, that may not have been feasible for HDz). I just think that these slips look like the best so far for BR2049. The FACs are very hefty editions, but the slips themselves are (in my opinion) not as beautiful as these.

In the end--it's all just stuff. So it doesn't really matter. But I think it's amusing how much desperation and interest there is for this movie that Hollywood would have us believe was 2017's Biggest Flop.

 

[paulboland]

I know there were apparently some quality-control problems that reduced the already small initial numbers. But this is a case where I think it would be worthwhile to consider a second printing--or perhaps it would have been better to hold off on the sales until they had the full numbers (though I know that finance-wise, that may not have been feasible for HDz). I just think that these slips look like the best so far for BR2049. The FACs are very hefty editions, but the slips themselves are (in my opinion) not as beautiful as these.

In the end--it's all just stuff. So it doesn't really matter. But I think it's amusing how much desperation and interest there is for this movie that Hollywood would have us believe was 2017's Biggest Flop.

GB quantys for Film Arena Blade Runner 2049 is also low it's 40 of each edition

It was always going to a hit on home media it's more suited to that market as is Blade Runner 1982
It has sold very well worldwide on Home Media both physical discs and Digital market


Box office performance is not always a guide to how well a release will do on home media
Lot of films that failed at the box office have been a big success on home media

 

[darczap]

The same happened to me with the 3D version. It said there was an error with the payment. It may have been after the first 20 had sold but I did feel like I was pretty quick getting my order in. It is disappointing.

Things like this happen I guess, especially with such a low number. Some people like us, lose out. Bought a poster last week where the same thing happened, payment was successful in paypal but too many people got in before me and my order was refunded/cancelled

 

[Sigill]

Things like this happen I guess, especially with such a low number. Some people like us, lose out. Bought a poster last week where the same thing happened, payment was successful in paypal but too many people got in before me and my order was refunded/cancelled

Yeah it's very disappointing but there's not a lot you can do when there's such small numbers on the GB. I will probably end up going for the FA version now.

 

[Hereticz]

Thank god I was able to keep 4K, I knew I was fast enough but still I was so anxious this morning so glad I have mine secured for sure now! What a release! Probably the most joyful moment in this year´s collecting so far. Little bit disappointment on let go the double lenti though (which will be stunning too), but we cant have everything I guess, no point to cry or complain now Im so glad I have at least one of those bad boys.

My only complain is to HDzeta website, that really piss me off how useless and unusable it is when you need to preorder something. This really needs to be dealt with asap @wxlinkswd @n3wk1d ! HDzeta is big retailer now don´t tell me they dont have money for upgrade the server. All awesome upcoming releases (Gladiator, SPR, TDK trilogy etc.) ahead needs to be ordered on properly working website, calmly and without a stress, please!

 

[ethnosax]

I wonder if there's any possibility of retailers doing a timed pre-order for big releases like this. Open pre-orders for a limited range (even just one day), take payment, and then the retailer can order a number that covers that number, plus whatever they need to ship to other sellers. It would save some grief, and would still reward collectors who are aware of the pre-order time. And I imagine it would bring in more revenue, as there seem to be a lot of people who would have paid for this release but weren't able to.

 

[yy0925]

I wonder if there's any possibility of retailers doing a timed pre-order for big releases like this. Open pre-orders for a limited range (even just one day), take payment, and then the retailer can order a number that covers that number, plus whatever they need to ship to other sellers. It would save some grief, and would still reward collectors who are aware of the pre-order time. And I imagine it would bring in more revenue, as there seem to be a lot of people who would have paid for this release but weren't able to.

First time I see a possible solution for this problem ;-)

 

[ethnosax]

The downsides:

• Payment way in advance--probably many months before you get the item.
• No chance of seeing live, in-hand pics before paying (not too much different from what's happening now, anyway...).
• Some collectors will say that this harms the collectibility, since more people could have the option to acquire, and probably higher edition numbers overall.
• Requires a lot of trust, that the retailers will in fact be around long enough to produce and distribute the edition.

Upsides:

• Easier to get the items you'd like.
• Less aftermarket scalping, because many more people have been able to get what they want in the official sale.
• Bigger sales for the retailers.
• Easier for retailers to see which variations will be the most popular, so they can order the right balance of lenti/full/quarter for store sales.
• Possibility of producing a pre-order bonus--e.g., everyone who pre-orders gets an extra lenti or something.

 

[bigdaygt]

Well so much for having secured a copy of each edition through the GB here which was what I thought I had until I woke up this morning... Glad I am able to keep my 4K edition at least, but the whole setup here and the communication issues with HDZeta is just sad

Know it was a limited release, but if we could only get a single version via GB I probably would have tried my luck on the website instead for the other version as I really wanted both- know the website is awful and that may not have worked either, but would have had a chance at least. I know its a a tough spot for how to allocate supply with these kind of situations after the fact, but I honestly think the rules of what you can purchase shouldn't change after the sale.

In my mind the fair way if it's first come first served- like this was supposed to be- is to keep it that way and everyone is on an even playing field- if purchases got cancelled from the GB based on order of payment completion that makes sense to me: first 20 of each edition get their copy and if you were too slow- oh well you missed out, it happens when there is limited stock. What I don't like is arbitrarily after the fact saying if you got both editions then sorry whichever of your editions had the later payment timestamp will be refunded as HDZeta decided one edition per person max through the GB. They didn't make the same restrictions to website buyers and we all know the normal "partners" (aka scalpers) will have all their normal copies on ebay for 2-3x retail. It's a shame HDZeta couldn't just hold a couple of those back to fill the oversold orders here or come up with a few additional copies as i think it's unlikely their slimmed down number due to quality issues magically landed on 300 of each version.

 

[howarmat]

bummed to not get both from the GB but money saved I guess for now.

 

[Jocelin]

Why should they bother... the more difficult it is to get one, the more collectors will want one !
They sell all their editions in a minute, why make a higher print run and risk not selling them all. Low number of prints makes the rarity and the collecting value. They are no friends they are businessmen.

 

[stratmeister]

Given all the people who got nothing, I'm happy and thankful to have gotten one.

 

[wquach]

Why should they bother... the more difficult it is to get one, the more collectors will want one !
They sell all their editions in a minute, why make a higher print run and risk not sellung them all. Low number of prints makes the rarity and the collecting value. They are no friends they are businessmen.

I would agree that they risk not selling them all for a movie clearly less in demand for collectors like say, "The Angry Birds Movie" but they very well know demand is high for "fan" based movies like superhero properties and BR.

I doubt that a hundred or two hundred more copies would still be around in a few minutes. The issue isn't even the print run as much as the actual availability from the site and GBs around. It seems like a large number or most of the run has already been allocated to third party resellers, who end up being the ones that gain the most out of it business-wise, reselling often 3-5 times their retail price.

On top of that when you run a broken site that clearly can't handle the load/demand, collector or not that's a bare minimum to maintain to give customers a fair shot and decent buying experience purchasing the item.

 

[SEAN3431476]

If anyone out there wants to sell SINGLE LENTI for fair price, please DM me.

 

[Maksym]

I know there were apparently some quality-control problems that reduced the already small initial numbers. But this is a case where I think it would be worthwhile to consider a second printing--or perhaps it would have been better to hold off on the sales until they had the full numbers (though I know that finance-wise, that may not have been feasible for HDz). I just think that these slips look like the best so far for BR2049. The FACs are very hefty editions, but the slips themselves are (in my opinion) not as beautiful as these.

In the end--it's all just stuff. So it doesn't really matter. But I think it's amusing how much desperation and interest there is for this movie that Hollywood would have us believe was 2017's Biggest Flop.

I would recommend them to run this movie in theaters again, i would definitely watch it in IMAX again maybe twice)

Why should they bother... the more difficult it is to get one, the more collectors will want one !
They sell all their editions in a minute, why make a higher print run and risk not sellung them all. Low number of prints makes the rarity and the collecting value. They are no friends they are businessmen.

That might be true for some releases. Definitely not for Blade Runner 2049. Even freaking italian WWA steelbook is sold out, and there were thousands of them. As of premiums, Kimchi did 1300 and 1500 print runs, all sold out the first day, Full Slip goes for 3X of retail on ebay.
So, that's not an excuse. They wanted to create Hype, Panic, Emotions. they freaking got it. Good Job.